North Korea

(asked on 20th October 2014) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the findings and recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are submitted to the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court; and what further steps his Department has taken pursuant to the findings of that inquiry.


Answered by
Lord Swire Portrait
Lord Swire
This question was answered on 27th October 2014

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is not a State Party to the International Criminal Court, so it has no jurisdiction in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution. The UK worked with the EU and likeminded partners to ensure a strong DPRK resolution at the March UN Human Rights Council, including a call for the UN General Assembly to submit the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the UN Security Council for its consideration and appropriate action. In April, we and other Security Council members took part in an informal public “Arria” briefing by the Commission of the Inquiry.

The UK has also played an active role in raising human rights violations in the DPRK in other meaningful ways. For example, in May we raised the need for a continued focus on human rights during a UN Security Council Sanctions Committee and in June I visited Geneva, where I took part in an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the DPRK, Mr Mazuki Darusman and raised the importance of DPRK human rights with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

In addition to recommendations on accountability, the Commission of Inquiry made a number of recommendations with regard to human rights dialogue and people-to-people contact. Through our Embassy in Pyongyang and the DPRK Embassy in London the UK continues to support activity in both these areas.

Reticulating Splines